PRESS RELEASE
The Playhouse at McConnellstown

THE SUNSHINE BOYS
April 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25
Exclusive by Mrs. Y. Y. Flerch

The situation: Two once-famous vaudeville comedians who have hated each other for half-a-century are reluctantly reunited by an ambitious nephew for a TV special. This is the premise of “The Sunshine Boys”, a comedy concocted by the brilliant and prolific Neil Simon. The 1972 smash Broadway hit opens this April for a two-weekend run at the venerable and beloved 76-seat Playhouse at McConnellstown just south of Huntingdon.

Willie Clarke and Al Lewis — Lewis & Clarke, the Sunshine Boys-had been a comedy team in vaudeville for 43 years, headliners at the Palace, no less. Like several real-life duos of the era, they worked smoothly on-stage and hated each other’s guts off-stage. For Willie, it was Al’s juicy “T’s” (”If there was some way I could have saved the spit, I would show it to you!”) and chest-poking (”The man had the sharpest finger in show business!”) that infuriated him. Plus Al’s sudden decision to retire right after an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, leaving Willie adrift in a world that had left him behind. Al, placid and conciliatory on the surface, seethes inside with resentment at Willie’s irascible and mercurial personality. The scene in which they attempt to rehearse “The Doctor and the Tax Examination” and in which Willie decides to change “Come in” to “En-taaaaaah”, is one of the funniest scenes Neil Simon ever put on paper.

Michael Norell of Three Springs plays Willie Clarke, who works himself into such a hilarious and irrational rage that he gives himself a heart attack. Mr. Norell is a grizzled veteran of Broadway and television. Last year, McConnellstown audiences saw him as Elwood P. Dowd in “Harvey”. In 2007, he was Norman Thayer in “On Golden Pond” and Jonathan Brewster in “Arsenic and Old Lace”. In private life, Mr. Norell is a retired screenwriter.

Keith Sutton of Huntingdon plays Al Lewis, the other Sunshine Boy. Mr. Sutton began his long amateur stage career in “The Music Man” as 10-year-old Winthrop with the Reading (PA) Civic Opera. Here he has been seen as Mr. Green in “Visiting Mr. Green”, as Gardner Church in “Painting Churches”, among many other roles. He has also directed “Steel Magnolias”, “Dancing at Lughnasa”, and “Enchanted April”. When not acting, directing and doing lighting designs in McConnellstown, Mr. Sutton is Doctor Sutton, an ER physician at JC Blair Hospital.

Terry Ayers of Petersburg appears as Ben Silverman, a theatrical agent and Willie’s nephew. Mr. Ayers has appeared as Ross Gardiner in “Visiting Mr. Green”, as Frederick in “Enchanted April” and as Mortimer Brewster in “Arsenic and Old Lace”. He is Executive Director of the Playhouse and works as staff accountant for Heberling Associates, Inc.

Also in the cast are Shelby Metz of Petersburg, Katie Dickey of Huntingdon, Barbara Hughes, also of Huntingdon and Samuel Carruthers of Oberlin Ohio. Ms. Metz appeared last season in “Dancing at Lughnasa” and “Harvey”. Ms. Dickey appeared at Juniata College as Bananas in “The House of Blue Leaves” and as Rosencrantz in “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead”. Ms. Hughes appeared in last season’s “It’s a Wonderful Life”

Anita Burkhart is Production Stage Manager, Jeanne Allen is acting coach, and Don Dietz helped with the setting decoration and Jeanne Nagurny with costuming.

“The Sunshine Boys” opened on Broadway in December, 1972. Lewis and Clarke were played by Jack Albertson and Sam Levene. It’s since toured endlessly with every combination of stage, movie and TV stars imaginable in the title roles, from Jack Klugman to Woody Allen. The 1976 movie, directed by Herbert Ross, starred Walter Matthau and George Burns. For Mr. Burns, it resulted in his first and only Oscar at age 80.

Directing the Vaudeville scene is theater stalwart Howard Crouch of Huntingdon who was seen in last year’s production of “It Run’s in The Family.”

Directing “The Sunshine Boys” is Daniel Weston. Mr. Weston was one of the founders of the Playhouse at McConnellstown and reckons he has directed or acted in more than one hundred-fifty productions. Of this play, he says, “I’d always thought of Neil Simon as a jokemeister and not much more, but this play is not just about laughs — hey, our audiences will be falling out of their seats, don’t get me wrong — but it’s also about aging, friendship, irrational hatred, paranoia … it’s about ‘you can’t go home again’ and it’s about not being able to break a lifetime bond no matter how much you think you want to.” He adds, “My respect for Neil Simon has increased as we have explored this script. This cast and play is terrific.” When he isn’t being a theatrical wizard at the Playhouse, Mr. Weston is Mr. Brown, a computer wizard at Juniata College.